Media thread - 28 July 2022, 22:10

Eeeee, I just ordered a guitar amp! And not just any amp, a proper vacuum tube one. Feast your eyes on this orange monstrosity! I think my favourite feature (and a significant part of why I chose this one specifically) is that it has a switch at the back of that goes between "Headroom" and "Bedroom" modes. In Headroom mode, it puts out a full 15W, or 7W if you flick the "half power" switch. In Bedroom mode, that's dropped to 1W and 0.5W at half power, but it doesn't appreciably change the actual sound of the thing, it's just not nearly as loud so you can play it inside without annoying the shit out of your neighbours or significant other. I'm also getting a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Gen 3 USB audio interface and a Two Notes Torpedo Captor load box so I can hook it up to the computer and do some proper recording. (This page has a good description of what a load box is: https://travelingguitarist.com/what-is-a-guitar-load-box/. I only found out about them last night as I was researching how to hook the amp up to the computer since it doesn't have a headphone jack or line out.) EXCITE!

Posted on 28 July 2022, 22:10

A photo of the corner of a room underneath a standing desk, with a little pine wooden platform on four legs that sits over the top of a power board. The platform itself is about 40cm wide and 23cm deep, and is raised up 13cm off the floor.

I don't really have a decent place to keep the new guitar amp I'm getting because it's about 2cm too deep to fit sideways beside my desk so I did some DIY today and built a little platform for it to sit above the power board in the corner!

our house diy music darkroom guitar

Posted on 30 July 2022, 14:54

Got some more bits and bobs for my new guitar setup. The tuner is going to be immediately useful — saves me having to get the iPad out and plug it in in order to use the tuner in BIAS FX Mobile — but the cables are useless until the load box and audio interface arrive in a few weeks (the guitar amp itself was in stock, but neither of the other items were).

our house music darkroom guitar

Posted on 31 July 2022, 14:48

A photo of a bright orange guitar amp with a wheat-coloured front grill sitting on the floor next to a shiny black electric guitar.

The same orange guitar amp but this time sitting on a little elevated wooden platform in the corner of a room under a standing desk.

It's here! 🤘🏻 And it fits PERFECTLY on the little stand I made!

our house diy music darkroom new toys guitar guitar amp

Posted on 2 August 2022, 14:43

A photo of the box of a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Gen 3 audio interface. The top and sides of the interface are a rich deep red metallic colour, and on the front is shiny black with all sorts of dials and sockets on it.

Huzzah, the audio interface arrived! Now to wait for the load box so I can actually, y'know, make full use of said audio interface.

our house music darkroom new toys guitar

Posted on 10 August 2022, 13:43

The load box arrived! It's very cool being able to have my sweet tube amp sounds but also being able to record them straight to the computer without fucking around with a microphone setup.

our house music darkroom new toys guitar

Posted on 15 August 2022, 13:02

A screenshot of incredible tackiness. In the middle is a "rack" with various guitar effects on it (harmonics, compression, output), all with actual dials that you need to awkwardly move with the mouse in order to adjust. At the top of the rack is a "Power Amp" section that has actual vacuum tubes that light up if you turn the power dials up. To the left and right it shows the "room" that you're recording in, with a full-size photo and a little version of the speaker cabinet you've selected, and the microphone you've selected mounted on a stand.

The load box comes with a license to use Two Notes' "Wall of Sound" DAW plugin that simulates speaker cabinets (with a limited selection of their full suite of available cabs), and it always amazes me how tacky audio software user interfaces tend to be. 😂

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Posted on 15 August 2022, 15:30